This invention enables a sacral colpopexy operation to be performed by means of vaginal surgery. Traditionally, this operation has been performed through an abdominal incision.
The abdominal sacral colpopexy (ASC) is widely recognized as the “gold standard” of all operations for the correction of vaginal vault prolapse. However, there are a large number of surgeons that advocate vaginal surgery using surgical procedures and devices that suspend the vagina to the uterosacral or sacrospinous ligaments. They point to studies showing that vaginal surgery˜in general, is easier for the patient to recover from and often has lower operative morbidity than the abdominal operations.
Clinical studies comparing ASC with the vaginal procedures have indicated greater success with the ASC and a lower failure rate, but the ASC does carry a higher complication rate.
If the sacral colpopexy operation can be performed using a vaginal technique that does not deviate from the optimal abdominal technique, then the advantages of being able to offer the gold standard operation will be enhanced by avoiding those aspects of abdominal surgery that are unattractive both to surgeons and patients. In addition, if this can be done in a fashion that is technically safe and easy, it is anticipated that many surgeons would incorporate this into their standard practice.
One of the technical challenges of the sacral colpopexy is to avoid the middle sacral vessels when fixing the graft to the presacral fascia. This instrument enables visualization of these vessels thereby providing the ability to fix the graft at a safe distance from the vessels.
This instrument is a modification of the instrument previously filed (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/039,488). This modification results in the sleeve used to house the dissecting instrument being in two pieces rather than one. These two pieces, when approximated, from the channel through which the dissecting instrument slides. When the dissecting instrument is removed, the two pieces are then used as retractors enabling direct visualization of the operative field. The distal ends of these retractors would be in close proximity to the sacrum and would expose the presacral fascial sheath so that the graft material could then be fixed to this fascial sheath under direct visualization. The use of these retractors takes the place of the operating instrument described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/039,488.